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Saturday, 22 July 2017

My first year experience - UNI

Now when you think of university what are the first things that spring to mind? Parties? Alcohol? Sex, drugs, rock & roll? wow that sounded like a dad joke, I do apologise. But here’s a first year reflection from myself, one of the maybe two or three percent of students that actually go there for the education.. geek alert, but who cares. I mean yes I did the whole going out every night for a week in freshers but in between that and a few nights out here and there I retired to my bed and opted for slippers and a warm cuppa, or two.. or five. So here’s a reflection looking back on life as a first year from a possible slight different perspective.

Okay so first of all, moving in day. This is quite possibly
one of the strangest days of your life. One minute your sat at home with your
family, a nice breakfast and a hot cup of tea and the next you’re in a stuffed
car full of most of your life possessions, being driven to your new home for
the next three of four years. Now that sounds quite scary when I’ve brilliantly
put it like that but its also one of the most exciting days of your life. From
being able to set up and decorate a new room, to the freedom and the new
friendships you’re about to create.

The first day is strange. You move your things in and then
wait for maybe a few minutes or a few hours (like myself) debating whether you’re
brave enough to go and introduce yourself to the new house mate. Its nerve-racking
at first but within an hour you find yourself drawn into a drinking game while
playing Mario cart on the one small television that they’ve kindly given
between the twelve of you.

As the weeks go on here comes the fun part, you start to see
what people are really like. That first member of your house that you met and
instantly thought of being best friends for life with? Well you start to
realise that you were so so wrong, and ultimately they become your worst enemy..
No no I’m joking, its no that bad but the chances of you living a lifetime
together are very low. You form friendships that don’t last longer than the
first two months but you also form some that genuinely could last a life time.
You find those people that share the same characteristics and passions as
yourself and you suddenly feel at home again.

One thing that you will really notice about yourself as did
I, is just how confident you can be when you’re put into a situation which
forces you to be. For myself it was catching busses to my boyfriends house,
somewhere that I’d only been to once before having to make my way there in the
dark.. Budgeting your money like your life depends on it, because yeah it
pretty much basically does. But more importantly the biggest part of freedom is
getting to choose what you fill up your fridge and freezer with every week, and
may I just say no matter how healthy you eat you are most definitely going to gain
at least a stone, whether its from the alcohol or the Ben&Jerry’s that you
use to comfort yourself when you’re missing home.

The nights out are a lot louder a lot busier than you’re
used to, one minute you’ll be sat in your house and the next you’ll be at your
neighbour complimenting that random drunk stranger on their gorgeous dress that
they picked up for a fiver on boohoo. And if you’re from Bristol then you’ll
understand that drunk amazement the first time that you step onto the club, that’s on a frikkin' boat.

But here’s the main thing, you’ll feel a sense of achievement
and a sense of fear when you bring home that shower matt and place it down. You’ll
stare at it like its your new born baby that’s just been welcomed into the
world. You stand there and you realise one thing, YOU’RE OFFICIALLY ADULTING.

My quick top tips;

Do not go to uni trying to fit into a certain
crowd, keep your mind open to everyone and their style and mind.

Do not feel pressured into going out all the
time, yes you may get called boring and people may distance themselves but if people
do that it shows what kind of ‘friend’ they are. And you don’t need that pushy
negativity in your life.

Don’t feel as if you have to go there and
suddenly finish first year with +100 friends, the whole point of going to
university is to adjust to the everything’s of day to day life in the real
world. Just concentrate on filling your life with positivity, those friends
that have got your back and inspire you to keep doing you.

The last are the most important, cheesy I know
but the basic moral of ‘JUST BE YOURSELF’. If you love the vibes that you get
off going to university and you just want to stay in with a cup of tea and a
film then do it. If you want to go every night, be careful but do it.

If you go to university and decide that you don’t
like it then hang in there for a few weeks just to be sure, but if its not for
you then its not for you and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just
because university is there, it doesn’t mean that you should feel pressured
into going. You do you, you create your own happiness. Just make sure that its
in doing what YOU love.

And on that note, that is the end of my rather large post
about my first year experience. Thank you for reading lovelies!x

4 comments:

Loved reading about your first year! I just finished my first year too and think I'll definitely be posting about my experience! I definitely agree with not trying to fit into a crowd and just being yourself; university, I think, is the most accepting place and so being yourself is a must!Sarah xhttp://www.saraheliza.co.uk/

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Just a twenty one year old dog, fashion and photography loving girl! Here you can find plenty of posts on beauty, fashion and lifestyle with the occasional bit of travel thrown in too. Hope you find everything you're looking for!